brainee

I'll be spending some time over the holidays with my brother and 10 year old niece. I'm bringing my PS3 along. She likes gaming, but has only played her Wii. I doubt there will be much I have that's appropriate - most of my games are story-driven and usually take many hours to finish. Not to mention often being filled with graphic violence, sex, and adult themes Little Big Planet is the only thing I have that might work.

I do have a PS+ account and would be open to getting some things (either demos or whole games). Anyone have any suggestions for stuff I could download through PSN? I'm told her favorite games are some kind of Star Wars light saber game and some online penguin thing. I have a feeling action-filled games with animals and/or fantastical creatures would be up her alley (but rated M games are out). And stuff that my brother or I can play along with using a 2nd controlled would be great too.

Any of you with youngins have any recommendations? Thanks!

Decker

LittleBigPlanet. Great, fun, cute games girls should love.
I think LBP Karting is free with PS Plus now as part of the Instant Game Collection and LBP 2 was free for a year (and the GOTY version can be found cheaply around).

Groucho

Yeah, my daughter loves LittleBigPlanet.

MoviePage

Ni No Kuni.

mhg83

Jak and Daxter HD collection
Ratchet and Clank HD collection and the new R & C games.
Sly Cooper HD collection and the newest SC game
I think they're all great games (except for Jak 2)

dom56

She might enjoyed Flower. I think it free to download.

mhg83

I'm not sure a pre-teen girl would enjoy Ni No Kuni with the slow pacing at the beginning. I remember nothing really good happening till the 5 hour mark and I had a lot of patience with that game. I came very close to quitting before hitting the good stuff.

chuckd21

Yeah the latest Sly Cooper game, definitely.

MoviePage

I think only an avid gamer who is wanting to jump right into some action would see it as slow pacing. The first section of the game is basically an interactive Studio Ghibli movie, so I can imagine a preteen getting really into it.

brainee

I have Ni No Kuni myself I just got it during a recent PS+ discount but haven't started playing. Though doesn't it take about 40-60 hours to complete? That would rule it out for my purposes. We're only going to have about a week together and she doesn't have a PS3 at her home to finish (I live across the country from them so it's not like she can just drop in to finish the game).

It does look wonderful though. I love Studio Ghibli movies.

mhg83

That part i liked a lot. It was the overwhelming number of tutorials that had me nearly quitting.

Decker

Bottom line : She's not living with you -- you don't have to go out and buy any new games. Your PS Plus membership gives you several games for free that she'd probably really enjoy. Currently there's LBP Karting, this week we got Dyad which is a trippy Tempest-style game that has some music/rhythm gameplay, Shadow of the Collosus and Ico (both PS2 puzzle-type games with HD updates). The others she probably wouldn't like, but if you've been a member for a while there are a bunch of freebies given in the past that my kids really enjoyed like Stacking, Oddworld Munch's Oddysee and The Cave, which is a cool adventure game.
Also, this week there's a sale on Guacamelee for $3.75 on PSN. It's a remarkable, beautiful and fun platforming game. Very entertaining.

davidh777

How about Lego Star Wars, if she's played the other Star Wars game.

buldrhm

My 10 year old daughter has enjoyed all of the lego games; some other options are disney infinity, disney universe, or angry birds

bippitty

I would second Flower, and also toss in Journey. They are short. Suitable for youngsters. I found them to be fun and interesting. You might like them yourself.

Liver&Onions

How about remove the gender and just consider her a pre-teen in general? She might like the same games a pre-teen boy does. Why not ask her, and if she says something that you feel might not be appropriate check with your brother?